How Does the Monsoon Malabar Coffee Bean Process Work?

Monsoon Malabar is a weathered coffee from southern India made by exposing green coffee beans to the southwest monsoon in open warehouses for months. The beans expand, lose most of their acidity, and take on nutty, grainy, and genmaicha-like notes with a full body, a result of an accident of 17th and 18th century sailing ships.

The process runs in five steps, from spreading the green coffee beans in ventilated warehouses to repeated monsoon exposure that turns them pale yellow-brown. Roasting and brewing must account for that low acidity and dense body, which is why Indian beans are known for herbal notes and a solid mouthfeel.

Monsoon coffee is a unique weathered coffee from South India, born from the historical accident of sailing ships transporting beans in the 17th and 18th centuries. Green coffee beans, exposed to the southwest monsoon for months in open warehouses, expand in size and decrease in acidity, developing a distinctive flavor reminiscent of nuts, grains, and genmaicha. Front Street Coffee's cupping reveals that Asian-origin beans are generally known for their full body, and this monsoon bean stands out with prominent herbal notes and excellent body. This article will comprehensively cover the origin story of monsoon coffee, the five-step processing method, the physical changes in green beans, and include Front Street Coffee's roasting curve and brewing parameter suggestions, offering a complete understanding of this golden, acid-free coffee from past to present.

India is among the earliest countries in Asia to start cultivating coffee, and its locally produced beans have won over many enthusiasts. Due to India's typical tropical monsoon climate, its coffee processing method is often called "monsooning." During cupping sessions, Front Street Coffee has compared several Asian-origin coffees side by side and found that Asian beans commonly exhibit a full-bodied characteristic. Take today's monsoon coffee beans, for example—they also have herbal notes and deliver an outstanding full body.

So, what exactly does "monsooning" refer to? And what are monsoon coffee beans?

Monsoon coffee is a type of coffee bean processed in southern India using a typical air-drying method. To achieve higher viscosity in the coffee, beans are deliberately stored in open warehouses and exposed to the monsoon, thereby reducing the coffee's acidity.

Monsoon coffee was actually an accidental creation. During the 17th and 18th centuries, India relied on sailing ships to transport coffee beans to Europe, with a one-way journey taking up to six months. The green beans were pressed at the bottom of the ship's hold, absorbing moisture and saltiness from the sea along the way. By the time they reached Europe, they had deteriorated: the color shifted from dark green to a rice-like yellow-brown, and the coffee's fruity acidity nearly vanished, but instead unexpectedly developed rich nutty and grainy aromas, with a full and solid mouthfeel and a faint genmaicha flavor. Northern Europeans particularly favored this golden, alternative coffee. In 1869, the Suez Canal opened, and with the introduction of steamships, the journey from India to Europe was greatly shortened. However, customers began complaining that Indian coffee had "lost its flavor," as the once-charming golden color and nutty taste were gone, leading to a sharp drop in orders. It was then that Indian exporters began researching countermeasures.

It turned out that coffee shipped to Europe, with the travel time cut by more than half, didn't have enough time to complete its aging "transformation," thus losing its original flavor. Exporters then thought of India's southwestern Malabar coast, where from late May to September each year, salty, humid air blows in from the Indian Ocean. After repeated experiments, they successfully replicated the golden, acid-free coffee of the past and named it "monsoon coffee," commonly known as weathered coffee. For centuries, European coffee traders have widely used it in blends to enhance viscosity and tea-like qualities.

Front Street has previously mentioned that the Indian coffee most familiar to Chinese consumers is weathered Malabar. Its formation can be traced back to ancient times—when coffee had to endure months of sea voyages to reach Europe, continuously exposed to salt-laden sea breezes and moisture, gradually transforming into a special taste. The originally fresh, dark green coffee beans also turned yellow-brown like Mandheling. Europeans at the time happened to enjoy this rich thickness and unique flavor.

Monsoon Coffee Bean Processing Method

1. Place the beans to be stored on the west-facing side of the facility, spread sun-dried coffee beans flat in the area, and open all windows to allow the salty, humid southwest monsoon to enter.

2. Do not overfill the coffee beans, as tightly packed bags can lead to poor ventilation and mold. Also, periodically pour out the beans and change the burlap sacks to prevent mold growth—the entire process is quite time-consuming and labor-intensive.

3. This stage lasts about twelve to sixteen weeks. After aging, the beans also need fumigation to repel weevils.

4. Manually sort the beans to remove any that failed to turn golden yellow.

5. After at least 6 months to a year of monsoon exposure, the beans undergo significant changes in both quality and quantity: they expand to one to two times their size, weight and density decrease, and moisture content is around 13%.

Characteristics of Monsoon Coffee Beans

During processing, the coffee beans expand to about twice their original size and take on a dull golden yellow, taking up to 12 to 16 months. Then, through excessive processing, incompletely expanded beans are removed, and the remaining beans are ready for export.

Roasting Recommendations

When roasting this monsoon coffee, Front Street Coffee considered its generally average bean density—though the beans are plump, they are soft and outwardly strong but inwardly weak—and ultimately chose a medium-dark roast profile. During roasting, steadily increase with medium heat; the yellowing point occurs around 4 minutes 50 seconds, then lower the heat and open the airflow to enter the Maillard reaction phase; at first crack, open the airflow wide, maintain heat, at about 184.4°C, and drop the beans 2 minutes 30 seconds after first crack.

Front Street Coffee's specific roasting details:

Preheat the roaster to 200°C and charge the beans, set airflow to 3, ignite after 30 seconds, adjust heat to 160, turning point at 1'25'', maintain heat, yellowing at 4'50'' with grassy notes disappearing, entering the dehydration phase, lower heat to 140, open airflow to 4, and when reaching 168°C, lower heat again to 110.

Dehydration completes at 8 minutes, bean surface shows wrinkles and dark spots, and the toasty aroma turns to coffee fragrance—a prelude to first crack. At this point, keep heat steady, open airflow to 5, and listen for the sound of first crack. First crack begins at 8'55'', with airflow fully open to 5. Post-first crack development time is 2 minutes 30 seconds, dropping at 197.8°C.

Brewing Recommendations

Brewing parameters: Kono dripper, 15g coffee, 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, 88°C water temperature, grind size (70-75% passing through China standard No. 20 sieve)

Brewing method: staged extraction, 30g water for blooming for 30 seconds, second pour with a slow circular stream to 125g, start the third pour when the liquid level is about to expose the coffee bed, stop at 225g, total extraction time 2 minutes (including blooming time).

Brewing flavor: A light plum acidity on entry, flavors of cocoa, nuts, and cream, rich caramel, raisin, and herbal notes, with a distinct barley tea and genmaicha tea sensation in the finish.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add the private WeChat of Front Street Coffee: kaixinguoguo0925

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.